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Battle Report Staff Sergeant Grant; Sole Survivor of the 23rd Peacekeeper Devision 12th Squad
It had been eight months, three weeks and five days since Staff Sergeant Grant had been in service. During this time he had faced many untold horrors on the battlefield, from border clashes at the Ukrainian industrial wasteland where he encountered Russia’s electrically supercharged madmen, to hunting down a rogue King Oni on the busy streets of Tokyo. Grant, like many other bloodied Peacekeepers have begun to show the telltale signs of battle fatigue. His armor is marked by numerous scratches and dents, his once shining face plate now sports a ugly crack across its reflective surface and the Peacekeeper's proud exterior had begun to sour around the edges. With each passing battle, his steps begun to slow and drag more and more. After living through all the madness that the sixties battlefield can offer, Grant had begun to wonder if he was ever going to catch a break. So he was pretty happy when his superiors transferred him to the island fortress of Singapore, where all his duties would be leading some eager Reservists on border patrols and on rare occasions leading his unit on a search and destroy, looking for green-clad Chinese invaders. On this dense tropical island all he really had to worry about would be listening to the vet’s story about the Chinese invasion a few months back and pretending to care. All that really bothered him was the humidity that made his armor chafe in all the wrong places and the mosquitoes that seem to find creative ways to sting him under his suit. That all changed on the morning after Grant and his unit received a routine search and destroy order from Commander Kerensky. It seemed civilian sightings of Chinese invaders had been on the rise, combined with the recent rumors of abandoned border villages, and sightings of unknown vehicles that wielded impossible powers had fueled the flames of paranoia amongst the troops. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when the Commander initiated another S&D, to dampen the fear. It was well past two o’clock in the afternoon when Rifleman O’Dell first made contact; he had spotted a light force consisting of two light tanks of unknown classification which was escorted by around fifteen infantry. It was the first hostile confirmed enemy sighting Grant had since he got transferred here. After quickly rounding up the rest of his squad and joining O’Dell at his position overlooking the Chinese forces, Grant prepares his unit for engagement. Looking through his binoculars at the leading tank, which sported four strange disks on each of its sides with a array of sensors and lenses mounted on a computer core in the center. Slowly forming a plan, he signaled Rifleman O’Dell and the rest of his unit around him, and said, “Okay, here’s how it’s going to go down. O’Dell, the leading tank looks like it has some very sensitive equipment in the center, see if you can break it with an AP round from your rifle.” O’Dell nodded in agreement. Grant then looked at the rest of his Squad. “After O’Dell takes out the leading tank, I want all of you to form up on me behind their formation, advance in rank and fire, front rank shields to provide cover and second rank with shotguns and Javelins. I want the Javelins in the second rank to use their laser lock on to take out the second tank ASAP, while the rest of you close in and take out the infantry, got it?” His men nodded in unison around him. As Grant and his small force of twelve Peacekeepers and three Javelins got into position, O’Dell lined up his shot, aiming at the exposed computer in the center of the tank. While he tracked his target through his aiming lenses the built in range finder begins to relay to him all the information he would need to make the shot. By all appearance, this should be a easy shot because at this distance he wouldn’t even need to adjust for wind and humidity. “O’Dell, we’re ready, take the shot when you have it…” Grant whispered over the radio. “Sure thing Sarge… should be a walk in the park…” O’Dell replied and squeezed the trigger. A thin smile crept across Grant's face as he heard O’Dell’s shot rang through his com bead, he expect the tracer to find its mark on the leading tank. Instead the tank reacted immediately, the core computer whirred to life and pointed at O’Dell’s position with its sensor arrays. A shimmering energy shield appeared on the closest round disc facing O’Dell with a loud “Pong!” Seconds later, Grant saw O’Dell’s AP round connect with the large energy shield with a loud snap followed by a “zing!” Over the com bead, Grant heard O’Dell utter a surprised “Wha- !“ Then he heard a sickening wet thump. “O’Dell! What happened?” Grant shouted into his com bead, as the second tank hummed to life and began to deploy a similar shimmering shield around the infantry, who turned to face Grant's squad with their glowing weapons. “Crap! Get the riot shields up! Shotguns at the ready! Javelins! Get your lasers on the second tank and fire!” Grant watched as his men get into formation and begin to fire on the advancing troops, their shots stopped by the tank's shield with a loud sizzle. “Hold them off! Buy time for the laser lock on!” The three Javelin trooper's lasers came on with an audible beep, and they let loose a flurry of missiles, their autoloaders clicking away in overdrive. Grant watched as the missile volley home in on the tank and connected with its shimmering shield; the explosion shook the forest around the tank and covered the Chinese formation with smoke and debris. Slowly, the Peacekeepers at the front begin to peer over their shields, nothing can survive that, Grant thought. Then, out of the smoke a thicker and more solid looking shield begin to take form, like a shining green eggshell. The tank crashed forward, its energy shield digging a deep groove on the ground before hitting the Peacekeeper formation. Grant watched in horror as he saw the shield strip the Peacekeepers layer by layer, until there was nothing left. That’s when he ran, with the sound of his men dying behind him. He ran.